Archive for January 22nd, 2019

21 January 2019 (Wall Street International)*— Developed countries presume that in their societies the rule of law which guarantees the separation of powers, respect for the law, human rights and private property which means security for foreign investors, among other things. All this is true, with the respective nuances, also for many developing countries, where equality before the law applies to all citizens – in theory at least.

21 January 2019 — Martin Luther King Jr., is the most important historical figure of the 20Th and 21RST Centuries, the indisputable enduring icon of modern times.

There are many brave individuals whose contributions have advanced the human condition, resulting in similar social contributions. The more I studied King’s substantial national and international legacies, however, the more I became convinced King is the more than the defining “icon” of our times.

21 Jan 2019 – As Martin Luther King’s birthday is celebrated with a national holiday, his death day disappears down the memory hole. Across the country – in response to the King Holiday and Service Act passed by Congress and signed by Bill Clinton in 1994 – people will be encouraged to make the day one of service.

Such service does not include King’s commitment to protest a decadent system of racial and economic injustice or non-violently resist the U.S. warfare state that he called “the greatest purveyor of violence on earth.”

21 January 2019 — Michael Møller, head of the UN in Geneva, has warned delegates to the Conference on Disarmament that cyber-security challenges, and the existence of new weapons systems and technologies, are not being sufficiently addressed or reflected in current arms control regimes.

UN Photo/Violaine Martin | Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, briefs the press at the Palais des Nations. (file)

Calling on governments to take human rights obligations into account when designing economic reforms, an independent United Nations rights expert said on Monday [21 January 2019] that “human rights impact assessments are key to the process”.

World Economic Forum/Valeriano Di Domenico | Impression from the Annual Meeting 2019 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 21, 2019. | Photo from UN News.

Highlighting the vital role of human rights on policymaking, the independent expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, published the Guiding Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments of Economic Reforms to assist states, international financial institutions, creditors, civil society and others, to ensure that economic policies are embedded in human rights.

The United Nation Human Rights Council (HRC) kicked off its Universal Periodic Review, or UPR, on Monday [21 January 2019] at the Palais des Nations in Geneva to examine the human rights situation in 14 countries, including Afghanistan and Yemen.

UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre | A general view of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in session.

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What exactly is the Universal Period Review?.

What exactly is the Universal Period Review?

On a rotational basis each four and a half years, all UN Member States undergo an interactive review of their human rights situation – treating all countries equally and allowing them to exchange best practices.